Today I'm working on layering. This is something that doesn't come naturally to me as a writer in my first drafts. I tend to skim read, and my first drafts are usually very close to a skim read - not enough depth in my characters, my settings, everything really. So today is about trying to add that in.

One of my favourite techniques to get to the bottom of what makes my characters tick is Twenty Questions. All it takes is a blank sheet of paper and one of your character's traits. You then try and come up with twenty reasons "why" they are that way and "what else". As always, when you start something like this you write down the predictable, but by the time you get closer to number twenty you come up with all sorts of unpredictable things. I find this exercise triggers the creative part of my brain and unlocks things about my characters I never knew. I then go back and layer that into the story.

April's been a busy month, but I did manage to get a bit of reading done. The V8 season has kicked off, so I started with a Craig Lowndes biography - The Inside Line. We love our motorsport at Chez Greene!

On the bus to and from work, I'm reading Runner's World mag, which is giving me plenty of ideas on what to train for next. I took a bit of time away from running and now I'm easing back in - the articles help to keep me motivated.

The Australasian Sky Guide gets a look most months. It's full of astronomy tips, like the fact there'll be a partial eclipse of the moon visible in Australia on April 26th, between 5.52am, and 6.23am. Only 2% of the moon's width will be in the Earth's shadow at maximal eclipse, but I'll probably get up to have a look.

My night read is Star Shadows by Colby Hodge. This was a Christmas gift, but because its futuristic, it jumped the queue on my "to be read" pile, which is now two full shelves of our bookcases. Keeping company with "the great unread" is my increasing Kindle collection. I never thought I'd use an e-reader, but having watched my husband pack his holiday reading onto his iPad last year, I thought I'd give it a go. Now I'm hooked.

Welcome to my blog, where I'll be sharing my writing news as well as what's going on at Chez Greene.

This is today's glorious sunrise, taken from my back deck, before I set out for a run. Here in Australia, the skies are huge and there's something different to see by the minute. Two of my favourite sayings are about looking upwards:

"Look to the skies and the answer will become clear." and"Look down, the sky begins at your feet."

I guess I spend a LOT of time gazing upwards. I think that's why I love writing sci-fi/futuristic as well as contemporary romance. What's to say their isn't life out there in a distant galaxy? Under a completely different sky, with foreign stars and moons. And who's to say that life isn't looking back at us.

I hope you'll continue to drop by as I take my journey towards publication.

Fiona

Fiona Greene Author

"A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step." Join me as I travel the road to publication and beyond.